Advance to the Rear (Strike Force Book 3) Read online

  “If it were up to him, we’d never get out of bed today.” He gently bit the rim of her ear. “But we have places to go and things to do.”

  He was looking forward to being out in the middle of noplace with her, where no one could bother them and he could see if this thing that had hit him—both of them—so unexpectedly was real or not. A vacation cottage on a nearly deserted lake seemed like just the thing.

  For one hot minute she trapped his cock in the crevice between the cheeks of her ass, then with a laugh tossed the covers back and climbed out of bed. The little minx swung her hips in a provocative manner as she headed for the bathroom.

  Marc chuckled. He realized he’d laughed more with her than he had since the disaster with Ria. In fact, he couldn’t remember feeling this kind of joy at all until Nikki came into his life.

  “If we had time I’d make you pay for that right now,” he teased. “I’ll just have to think up more ways to get my revenge.”

  “Promises, promises,” she teased as she walked away.

  In a minute he heard the shower running. He was tempted to join her but decided to wait until they got to the cottage. Then they could take their time. He picked up his kit and headed for the guest bathroom, anxious to get going. There was always the chance that if they hung around her place too long one of them would get a call to disrupt their plans, most likely Nikki. He didn’t want anything to disturb this little vacation. This was a chance for them to see that out of their dual pain, they’d found something real and could move forward with it. He was both skeptical and nervous, but looking forward to this getaway with anticipation.

  He had just finished zipping everything into his duffel when she came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. Her long, shiny blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and there wasn’t a speck of makeup on her face.

  “I decided to go with a naked face.” She brushed a hand over her cheeks. “We won’t be any place where I’d need it, right? Think you can stand it?”

  He cupped her face and brushed his lips against hers.

  “You could stay naked all over as far as I’m concerned.” His thumbs stroked her cheeks. “You don’t need to wear makeup for me—or clothes, for that matter.”

  She grinned, a wicked glint in her eyes. “I’ll have to see what I can do about that.”

  It made his heart swell to see her so happy and playful. They’d both been in such a bad place when they’d met at the party—the one he hadn’t wanted to attend. He thought it a minor miracle that they could both now smile and tease each other. He was pinning a lot of hopes on this week in an isolated lake cottage. Hope that whatever this was between the two of them would grow into something he’d given up thinking he’d ever find.

  “You look totally lost in thought.” Nikki poked him in the ribs. “No thinking allowed. Not until after this week. Remember? Give me a second to get dressed and throw my stuff into a bag and I’m good to go.”

  He grinned when she came out of her bedroom wearing denim shorts and a T-shirt that said, Nurse. The first person you see after saying Hold my beer and watch this. He’d bought it for her because he wanted to lighten her mood, make her smile and laugh again.

  “Glad you’re wearing that.” He reached out and pulled her toward him. “I wanted to bring a little humor into your life.”

  Even her smile was serious. “You do, Marc. More than you know. And thank you for that.”

  He meant the kiss to be just a light brush of lips, but before he knew it they were plastered together, tangling tongues. He forced himself to break it off and take a step back.

  “Let’s save that until we get to the lake or we’ll never get out of here. I’ve got big plans for us there.” He hadn’t felt this kind of excitement and anticipation in a long time.

  They decided not to stop in a restaurant for breakfast. Instead, on their way to shop for groceries, they grabbed breakfast sandwiches and coffee at a drive-through and headed to Lookout Lake. They followed State Highway 16 out of San Antonio, watching as the heavily populated road slowly gave way to agricultural land. Ranchland. Cattle grazing peacefully.

  “I love driving around in the Hill Country.” Nikki inhaled deeply and let her breath out slowly. “It makes me relax.”

  Marc couldn’t help the low laugh that rumbled out of him. “I’ve got some ways to relax you, too.”

  She gave his thigh a soft punch. “You have hidden talents.”

  “And I plan to use every one of them this week.”

  Just thinking about seven days alone with her made Marc’s cock harden.

  Please don’t let me fuck this up.

  Slade had sent Marc an email with the directions and a map, and he’d forwarded it to Nikki. She pulled it up now as they got closer to the little town of Lookout Lake.

  “There.” She pointed through the windshield. “That flashing light there? That’s the intersection we want.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call this a town,” Marc commented.

  “There are lots of places like this in Texas. If a train ran through here, they’d call them whistle stops. Basically an intersection with a few amenities. See?” She pointed again. “There’s a convenience store, a gas station, a couple of shops. Even a little restaurant.”

  “That must be the place Slade told me about, with the cinnamon buns that people kill for. Maybe we can get some tomorrow morning for breakfast.”

  “Yum.” She rubbed her tummy.

  Marc’s cock twitched. Of course, everything she did made his cock sit up and beg. He did his best to send it a stern message.

  “It’s like a foreign country to a city boy like me,” he told her. “What do they do for the rest of their shopping and entertainment?”

  “Well, it took us less than thirty minutes to get here from San Antonio, and Bandera is just a ways farther down the road.” She giggled. “Afraid you might get bored, city boy?”

  He reached over and gave her thigh a gentle squeeze.

  “I’ll never get bored with you.” He trailed his fingers along the inside of her legs and slid between the fabric of her shorts and her barely there panties. Jesus! He’d better be careful. His cock was already straining at his fly.

  Nikki squeezed his hand, effectively trapping it before she lifted it and moved it away.

  “Pay attention to driving,” she teased. “By the way, I didn’t ask you, but how long will you be around? The big San Antonio Rodeo starts in a couple of days and I’d love it if we could go together.”

  “Rodeo? Sounds great! I think we’ll be in the area, but I’ll check with Slade when we get back. Right now, the most important thing on my calendar is this week with you away from everyone.”

  “Sounds good. Okay, here is where you make the left-hand turn. Go about a quarter of a mile and you’ll see a narrow little road. Oh, look, Marc.” She sat up straighter. “You can see the lake from here.”

  He saw the water almost the same time she did.

  “This isn’t much of a road,” he remarked as he turned right. “It’s mostly dirt. And you can hardly see it from all the overgrown grass and shrubs.”

  “Didn’t you say Slade told you it wasn’t very big? And that there were only a couple of cottages on it?”

  “Yeah, that’s right. And here we are.”

  He pulled off the road and parked right next to a typical small cottage perched on the water’s edge. A small stairway led up to the front door and a porch that wrapped around the place. Marc hauled their gear out of the car, climbed the couple of steps to the porch and unlocked the door.

  “Oh!” Nikki stood in the middle of the cottage and looked around. “Marc, this is so very cute.”

  Cute wasn’t in his vocabulary, but it really was a decent place. A living room led from front to back, taking up half of the space. The other half was allocated to two bedrooms, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen. Compared to some of the places he’d stayed, it was paradise. He found Nikki standing on the back porch staring out at the
lake and looking more relaxed than he ever remembered seeing her.

  This was a damn good idea. Thank you, Slade.

  She turned around to face him, grinning. “This was a great idea.”

  “And we’re just getting started.”

  She looked at the little dock and frowned. “I thought you said there was a rowboat with this pace. I was thinking maybe we could go out on the water.”

  “That’s what Slade told me, but I don’t see it. It was supposed to be tied up at the little dock at the water’s edge.” He was a little baffled, also. “Maybe it’s at one of the other cottages, although I believe they are individually owned.”

  “Let’s put the food away and go for a little walk. Can we?” She pointed to the water. “I want to see what the rest of the lake looks like. It’s not that big, so it won’t take that long and we can look for the rowboat.”

  “Sure.” He pulled her tight to his body for a quick but hard kiss. “We can do some sightseeing around the lake. Then I can do some sightseeing around your body.”

  “You did a lot of checking out my body last night,” she teased. “Shouldn’t that hold you for a while?”

  “Maybe just a little while.” He winked. Then he sobered and reached for her hand. “I thought about you so much these last weeks. God’s truth, this whole thing hit me like an elephant. I never thought I’d trust or want a woman again. But you’ve opened my eyes, Nikki. Made me hope that this is different. That it’s real. That’s why I wanted us to have this week. We both come from a bad place and I want to make sure we’re not fooling ourselves.”

  She studied his face, looking hard into his eyes.

  “Me, too. So. Ready to take that little walk and check out the area? “

  “Yeah. Let’s see what the landscape looks like around here.” He grinned at her. “Then we can come back and check out each other.”

  He made sure to lock both the cottage and the car before they left, then took Nikki’s hand and they headed down the path obviously created by years of traffic over the natural grass growth. He didn’t think anyone was here today, though, because the only sounds to break the silence were those of birds flitting here and there, and a wild animal or two diving through the bushes.

  Marc loved the feel of Nikki’s hand in his, soft yet strong against his palm. He was content to walk with her in silence, just enjoying her presence, happy that they didn’t need to fill the silence with words. The day was warm without being hot, the sun was bright in the sky and a soft breeze ruffled the surface of the little lake.

  Can life be better?

  They made a short turn in the so-called road and stopped short as they came face-to-face with another cottage. This one looked to be closed up even tighter than the one they were using. There was no car parked in the space next to it and all the window shades were pulled down. Even though it gave the appearance of being deserted, every one of Marc’s senses went on high alert.

  He tightened his clasp on Nikki’s hand and tugged her to a stop.

  “Just hold a second,” he told her in a low voice. “I want to scope this out.”

  She looked up at him. “Scope what? It’s deserted, right?”

  “So it seems. I just want to make sure.”

  “Is this the Delta Force soldier coming out?” she whispered.

  “I can never quite put him away,” he told her.

  He started to walk around the cabin, trying to shake the feeling skipping along his spine, but he didn’t see anything and Nikki was tugging on his hand.

  “Look.” She pointed to the dock for this cabin. “There’s a rowboat there. See? Maybe whoever rented this cottage last borrowed it and left it tied up here. Why don’t we take it out? We can always return it to this dock.” She batted her eyes at him in an exaggerated gesture. “Please? For me?”

  He laughed, a dry chuckle.

  “Okay. If there was anyone here, it seems they’ve gone. There’s no sign of life here.” He tugged her toward the water. “Come on. We’ll go for a little ride. Remember, though, I haven’t rowed a boat in years.”

  “Oh, I’m convinced a big strong soldier like you won’t have a problem.”

  She squeezed his upper arm with her slender fingers, sending a shot of lightning straight to his cock.

  Jesus, Blanchard. Get your shit together.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Seconds later they were both in the boat, gliding away from the docks. Muscle memory worked for him and soon he was rowing in a smooth rhythm, pushing them through the mostly unruffled waters of Lookout Lake. Slade had been right about two things. The lake wasn’t that big and there were only four cottages, well spaced apart. And as far as he could tell, the only one being used was the one he and Nikki were in.

  She reached out and dipped the fingers of one hand in the water, trailing them to make little ripples. “It really is like being alone in our own special world. It’s so peaceful and beautiful out here.”

  He nodded. “I’m glad we’re here this week. Another month or so, I’m guessing these other places will be occupied every week.”

  She closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the sun. He couldn’t take his eyes away from her. Her thick blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, emphasizing her expressive eyes, her delicate cheekbones and the soft curve of her chin. He reminded himself to be sure and take plenty of pictures of her this week, so when he was sitting in the icy air of the Hindu Kush Mountains or the broiling heat of the desert, he could pull his phone out and remember he had something great waiting for him at home.

  At least he hoped that she’d be waiting. He could hardly believe the connection they had, or how much he was coming to trust their feelings for each other. This week was going to be a milestone for them in many ways.

  They spoke very little as he rowed them around the lake, as if by mutual consent they had agreed that conversation wasn’t always necessary. He braced the oars in the water for a moment, holding the boat in place and just letting the feeling of peace wash over him. He was pretty sure he hadn’t ever felt comfortable enough with a woman before this to enjoy just being with her. And this was the perfect environment to savor every moment.

  A small fished leaped from the water about three feet from Nikki’s hand, making them both jump.

  “Wow!” She sat up straighter, shaking the water from her hands. “Neat!”

  “It is.” He grinned at her. “Reminds me there are supposed to be poles in the cabin. We can go fishing.”

  “Yeah?” She leaned back. “You big on that?”

  He shrugged. “It can be fun. But first…” He looked at her and was seized with a desire to lick her all over. “Let’s go back to shore and see about working off some calories from breakfast.”

  Nikki laughed. “Do you have an exercise plan in mind?”

  Marc grinned and winked. “I do. And we need to get to it.”

  “I guess we should return the boat to where we got it?”

  He shrugged. “Probably. At least until I can ask Slade about it.”

  He slid the boat easily into place at the little dock, tied it to the post and helped Nikki out. They were just leaving the dock when the door to the cottage opened and two men walked out onto the porch. At once all of Marc’s senses went on high alert. He was back in Afghanistan and Iraq and Niger, his gun trained on men who looked just like this.

  Get over it. This is Texas and you can’t paint everyone with the same brush.

  He gave himself a mental shake and told himself there was nothing threatening about their posture. They were of average height, olive-skinned with curly dark hair and at least a three-day growth of beard, and their clothing was wrinkled, as if they’d been wearing it for a long time. He’d have thought nothing of it except the information they’d received was that he and Nikki would be the only ones occupying a cottage this week. He slid his hand into his pocket where he’d stashed his Glock 19 before they set out on this walk.

  Come on, soldier. You�
�re at a little lake in Texas, not the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan.

  But it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

  “Uh, sorry about the boat.” He forced a smile. “We were told there was one that came with the cottage where we’re staying but it wasn’t there. When we saw this one we thought it was tied up here by mistake. I apologize.”

  “No problem,” the taller one said. “Take it to your place if you like. We aren’t much for boating.”

  “Thanks. We might use it again.”

  “So you are staying out here, also?” the other man asked.

  “A week’s vacation,” Marc told him. “A friend lent the place to us.”

  “Ah.” He nodded. “Like us.” He eyed Nikki. “You are a nurse?”

  “Yes.” She slid her hand into Marc’s. “When I’m not on vacation. Trying to leave it all behind for a week.”

  Marc tugged her with him back toward the boat. “If you need a nurse, there’s a good clinic about four miles down the highway.”

  “Thank you.” This from the first man. “Well, enjoy your vacation.”

  “You, too.”

  Marc helped Nikki into the boat and shoved off from the dock. He said nothing until they had rowed past the curve in the lake and the other cottage was out of sight.

  “Did those men make you nervous?” Nikki asked.

  A corner of his mouth kicked up in a semi-grin. “Everyone makes me nervous. Occupational hazard.” He rowed in silence for a moment. “These guys seemed okay but with everything going on in the world today, and no warning they’d be here, I just want confirmation that they pass muster.”

  “Are you going to call Slade?”

  He nodded. “It never hurts to make sure of something. That’s how people stay alive. Let me make that call.” He dug out his cell out of his pocket and pressed the speed dial number he had for his lieutenant. “Hey, Slade. Got a question for you.”

  He described what had just happened and the two men who had looked anything but friendly.

  “I’m probably just being itchy because of Niger and the knowledge of the training camp just across the border in Mexico.”